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Im an expat who has been living Dubai for a few years and am considering leaving my current job, which i started recently, and still under probation, for another job in the Gulf, outside the country. My bank actually approved a large loan for me while under probation, which I now have outstanding. What will happen if I decide to leave the country and have my work visa cancelled? I intend to pay my loan, but only after i start my new job, outside the UAE. I dont think theres anything that will happen, am I wrong?

Canadianad wrote:Im an expat who has been living Dubai for a few years and am considering leaving my current job, which i started recently, and still under probation, for another job in the Gulf, outside the country. My bank actually approved a large loan for me while under probation, which I now have outstanding. What will happen if I decide to leave the country and have my work visa cancelled? I intend to pay my loan, but only after i start my new job, outside the UAE. I dont think theres anything that will happen, am I wrong?

If you default on payment of a loan the Bank will try to cash the undated cheque that you deposited as part of the loan agreement and that will get you arrested. If you leave your job whilst having a loan your Company is obliged to inform the Bank.
You better pay your loan.

I'm not planning to default on my loan.. I just want to be sure that I will not have any problems leaving the airport with a cancelled visa and an outstanding loan. According to a friend who works in the bank industry, the only thing they will do is freeze the bank account, then , if the default happens after having laft the counrty, they will open a case with the police, right?

If they somehow hear about you trying to leave the country, they will lodge the case earlier and stop you at the airport. Otherwise you can leave with no one stopping you. The bank will probably never believe that you will pay from outside the country (since leaving with huge loans is a common scam here and nobody ever pays back), and you will have troubles when you try to come back in.

If the bank hears that you will be leaving they will ask that someone signs surety against your loan. If the loan is not replayed the police come and take the person who signed into custody! This happened to a number of my employees! Unfortunately they don't know what they are signing for!

In another case, a person i know absconded, leaving a large unpaid loan. The bank eventually tracked them down in South Africa and filed a case against them! It does however depend who you are banking with and whether they have branches in other countries. They also filed for a "black listing" against the person with an international credit bureau; this means that the person can never apply for a bank mortgage or any kind of bank credit (where a credit history check is performed)!

I also have a friend who was in a similar position as you, the bank allowed him to continue paying off the loan. from the banks perspective it is better to get some money back in against the loan than to write it off and then still pay to institute legal proceedings in another country to recover the debt.

wow and who says Dubai is inefficient, eh...?!!!

dbxsoul wrote:I also have a friend who was in a similar position as you, the bank allowed him to continue paying off the loan. from the banks perspective it is better to get some money back in against the loan than to write it off and then still pay to institute legal proceedings in another country to recover the debt.

Did your friend make arrangements before he left the country or after?

dbxsoul wrote:I also have a friend who was in a similar position as you, the bank allowed him to continue paying off the loan. from the banks perspective it is better to get some money back in against the loan than to write it off and then still pay to institute legal proceedings in another country to recover the debt.

Did your friend make arrangements before he left the country or after?
I spoke to someone who is knowledgeable who said that the bank will only make a case approx. 8 months after non-payment, and that they will not make a case before that, whether the work visa is cancelled or not.

I am a similair situation - I have just taken out a loan for rent and will be changing employers so would need to leave the UAE for a day in order to come back for the visa change......do you think the bank will be reasonable and allow me to do this!!!!!!!!!

Cheers

madamedarkin wrote:I am a similair situation - I have just taken out a loan for rent and will be changing employers so would need to leave the UAE for a day in order to come back for the visa change......do you think the bank will be reasonable and allow me to do this!!!!!!!!!

Cheers

Your Employer is supposed to inform the Bank that you are leaving the Company, that would form part of the loan agreement. You need to discuss it with the Bank. Normally the minimum they do is freeze your account until you get a new residence permit etc.